On Oct. 22 the SEC issued a press release to announce that the second-highest number of enforcement actions in agency history took place in fiscal year 2008. In addition, the SEC also returned more than $1 billion to harmed investors through Fair Fund distributions.

According to the release, the agency brought 671 enforcement actions during the just-completed fiscal year, with the number of insider trading and market manipulation cases up more than 25 percent and 45 percent respectively over the previous year.

The release also notes that the SEC has more than 50 ongoing investigations relating to the subprime market and that the Division of Enforcement also reached preliminary settlements in principle with six of the largest firms in the auction rate securities market. These settlements, which are subject to final approval by the Commission, would be the largest in the history of the SEC and would return more than $50 billion to investors.

Additional data on the SEC’s FY 2008 enforcement results will be available as part of the agency’s Performance and Accountability Report, which is scheduled to be published in mid-November.